alan catlin | one book

ONE BOOK
by
Alan Catlin

Imagine if you will, a young man walks into a bar, the bar where I was working, asks me, the bartender, ”Remember me? I’m Dave Baratier and I have a small press . I want to do a book of your selected poems.” No, that isn’t a standard bar joke but how the idea for and the book, “Drunk and Disorderly” came about.

Needless to say, it was nowhere near that simple. This is the world of small presses and absolutely nothing is simple. Over the years, and I do mean years, several of them, Dave and I hashed out what we wanted to include in the book on the telephone and by e-mail. As we had close to thirty chapbooks and books to choose on a wide variety of subjects, this was an arduous project. Dave was up to daunting projects having transcribed, often copying hundreds of pages from delicate limited edition of Simon Perchik’s work, for a previous major book. However, prior commitments, personal issues, work and attempting to run a fine small press and write as well, drew the process out longer than either of us would have expected or liked.

Of course, we had favorites from my work, pieces Dave liked and ones I was no longer fond of. Dave was partial to the early prose poems in “Joyce in Hades” and I was not. I was partial to the war poems in “An Experiment in Terror” and he could not abide war poems of any sort no matter how well they were done. As with any effort of this sort compromises were proposed and accepted and the book began to take shape. And then I didn’t hear from Dave for well, many months that became years.

As Dave had promised me this book would be a fine art edition and that he would keep it in print and that it represented, not only the past work but new, bolder, totally different directions my writing was taking in a generous uncollected new work section, the book had great importance to me. More than any other by far, as I knew, realistically, who else was going to do a book of my selected poems? During the waiting time, Simon assured me I shouldn’t lose hope, to stick with and Dave would reward you with a fine book you would both be proud of. Of course, he was right, but waiting is a bitch no matter how you slice it. And what you become accustomed to when you play the small press publishing game. Anyone who is in it for the fame or the money or for ego gratification should find something else to do like try out for American Idol; the chances of making it are about the same but the rewards are infinitely less than anything you could possibly expect on TV. Well, theoretically, anyway; it all depends upon your priorities. Writing is a love affair and the small presses are the mistress. I’m not sure what American Idol is in the scheme of things.

The last piece of the book puzzle was the cover and the title of the book. I was fortunate enough to enlist the fine poet and artist David Chorlton to provide a remarkable original piece of art for the cover. The title was more difficult. Dave didn’t want something totally bland and predictable. I couldn’t think of anything I was love in with and neither could he. Eventually, I wrote down a list of possible titles ranging from the frivolous to the pretentious and said pick one. “Drunk and Disorderly” was chosen, I think, for two basic reasons. One, that it reflects the raucous, hell raising barn burning bar poems and the other that the poet is drunk or had been drunk, at times, not only on booze but on words. Considering I neither drink nor work in a bar any longer, we’ll have to assume the title refers more to the words than the booze.

I have found that my work is an ongoing process of evolution, of growth and new understandings leading to sometimes startling discoveries that make the process beyond material reward. Directly in the center of that process, not necessarily chronologically, but intellectually. “Drunk and Disorderly”, is for me a backward glance to what has been done and a forward look into what the future has to offer. Hopefully, the process will continue well into the foreseeable future.

Book Publications

1980- Joyce in Hades-chapbook of prose poems

1982-The Monkey’s Raincoat, Realities Library chapbook

1983- Visiting Day on the Psychiatric Ward-chapbook runner up in Looking Glass Chapbook Competition

other Norbert Blei web pages

Please click the arrow to see the complete list of writers on Poetry Dispatch & other Notes from the Underground, then click a writers name to see all entries. The number next to the writers name indicates how many postings belong to this category.

Please click the arrow to see the complete list of writers on Poetry Dispatch & other Notes from the Underground, then click a writers name to see all entries. The number next to the writers name indicates how many postings belong to this category.

The coop has flown

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Norbert Blei | 1935 – 2013

On the back roads of Door County again

Norbert Blei – 2012

Photo by Bobbie Krinsky

Norbert Blei – 2012

Photo by Jeffrey Winke

Norbert Blei – 2011

Photo by Sharon Auberle

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